Two records for SA

Oscar Pistorius smashed the 200m T44 world record in his heat as he made his 2012 London Paralympics debut yesterday.

Pistorius ran 21.30, shaving more than half a second off the previous record set by Brazilian Alan Fonteles Cardoso Oliveira in an earlier heat.

The 25-year-old, who is dubbed “Blade Runner”, is defending the 100m, 200m and 400m Olympic titles he won in Beijing four years ago.

Pistorius, who wears carbon fibre prosthetic blades after he was born without fibula in both legs, became the first double amputee to run in the Olympics, where he made the 400m semifinals.

Fellow South African Arnu Fourie, a single-leg amputee, set a new world best in the T44 division.

Fourie also reached the final, finishing second in his heat in 22.57, 0.34 seconds behind American double-amputee Blake Leeper.

Oliveira won the first heat in 21.88, storming clear of American favourite Jerome Singleton in the finishing straight.

– Sapa and Reuters

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